1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lifting and transferring disabled persons from one resting place to another. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus that may be used to lift a disabled person and to transfer the person to and from a wheelchair, from and to a stationary chair, bed, or automobile seat or the like. The present invention also relates to the method by which the apparatus is to be used.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Any number of methods and systems have been used to lift and transfer disabled persons, that is, persons disabled in the sense that they are not able to move themselves. Some patent references teach the concept of a lifting device that would be always positioned beneath a person while that person is seated and that would be available for an attendant to lift the person by grasping the device to either side of the person and lifting.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,902 issued to Fash on May 27, 1958, discloses a lifting sheet for lifting and handling a person who is not able to move about under his or her own power. The form of construction of the Fash lifting sheet is especially designed for use in lifting a patient from a wheelchair to a table, bed, or the like. The lifting sheet is formed of a suitable fabric having the desired tensile strength to support the weight of the body to be lifted, carried, or moved about. The sheet is preferably rectangular in plan view. It has elongated slips which extend inwardly from an edge portion that, when placed on a chair, would be most proximate the shoulders of the person being lifted and handled. It also has arm sleeves into which the arms of attendants may be slid. Near the arm sleeves are parallel slits which provide straps to be grasped by the hands. This device does not have handles extending from the sheet, but rather within the sheet's boundary. The structure of this device is particularly adapted for use by two cooperating attendants, which is a disadvantage for a single attendant.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,677, issued to Nordwig on Jan. 14, 1975, discloses a substantially rectangular sheet of flexible material which has aligned loops formed along opposite edges for receiving a pair of rigid, elongated handles. The loops are spaced apart so that hands may be inserted for grasping or lifting the device. This device essentially teaches using an elongated sling as a lifting seat which extends between handles at opposite ends. As a drawback, this device depends on the structure of the rigid bar handles for lifting, which would be difficult to slide beneath a person seated in a wheel chair and uncomfortable for the person so seated while the device is put in place for use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,607 issued to Johansson, on Jan. 5, 1988, discloses a patient transfer mat for aiding and moving a patient who cannot move himself or herself. The teaching is particularly adapted to using two mats, one of which would be placed under the buttocks of a patient, while the other would be placed under the shoulder of the patient. The method of using this device is to move the patient by sliding of lifting the patient while the patient is in a stretched out position and does not contemplate use of the device to transfer a patient from one sitting position to another and so is not particularly adapted for use with a wheel chair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,327 issued to Smith on Feb. 9, 1988, discloses a device to transport and move bedridden patients easily and securely without potential injury to either the patient or the attendant. The device is a generally square sheet of flexible fabric material. An integral perimeter handle is movably positioned within the fabric. This device is contemplated for use with a bed ridden patient, and there is no teaching in the reference suggesting a methodology for lifting and transferring a person using a wheelchair.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,997 issued to Lamson on Apr. 19, 1988, discloses a method of moving a person from a bed to a wheelchair. Lamson employs a seat section and a conveyor section. What is of particular interest is that the seat section is left in place once the person is positioned in the wheelchair. But while this teaching of leaving a transporting device in place in a wheelchair is now known in the art, the particular structure called for by Lamson requires a special, and not a standard wheelchair for its use. The methodology taught by Lamson also requires the specialized wheelchair equipment.